St Kentigern's, Castle Sowerby

Seven hundred years before St Kentigern’s Church, Castle Sowerby, was built in the 1100s, Kentigern himself went there and preached the gospel, baptising those who believed. I did not spot the remains of an old preaching cross, but many of these ancient Cumbrian churches still have them in their grounds. Centuries later, the present building was erected. Although inevitably improved and extended over the years, this is a wonderfully historical church.

Two things in particular caught my attention. The first is its list of clergy, which old churches are proud to display. In 1278, one John Langton was the parish priest. Fourteen years later, he was appointed Lord High Chancellor of England and Bishop of Chichester, one of the consecrated hands to crown King Edward II in 1307 and special English ambassador to the Pope of Rome. Truly, he was one of the most powerful men in Europe- and he started his career in that remote, northern outpost.

The other curiosity is its whitewashed walls. Although many churches are whitewashed or limewashed within, which was ordered by Tudor governments to conceal idolatrous images, the outer walls are painted white, also. This was once common, but we today rather enjoy looking at exposed masonry. This reminds us of the Lord Jesus’ terrible condemnation of the Pharisaic leadership in Matthew 23:27:

Woe be to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: for ye are like unto whited tombs, which appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and all filthiness.

Was our friend Bishop Langton, Lord Chancellor and Royal Ambassador just a whitewashed sepulchre, a man deemed holy by his rich vestments and wise by his episcopal mitre, but whose inner life was exempted from saving grace and personal holiness? Was he a man more interested in power and politics than Christ’s honour and others’ salvation?

Time will tell.